Old Motebecane - a keeper?
07-26-03 | 11:49 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 4
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Old Motebecane - a keeper?
I just picked up an older Motebecane Jubile Sport at a bike swap for $30. After big miles on the road on a hardtail, thought I'd try a road bike out.
If I like it as much as I suspect I will, is this frame worthy of a drive train upgrade? I'd like to get SIS shifters, maybe a 7 speed cassette. Probably means a whole new drive train. The frame is a steel Vitus 888, current equipped with a 6 speed cassette (or freewheel?) and a suntour BL r. derailleur.
Any opinions?
Thanks!
If I like it as much as I suspect I will, is this frame worthy of a drive train upgrade? I'd like to get SIS shifters, maybe a 7 speed cassette. Probably means a whole new drive train. The frame is a steel Vitus 888, current equipped with a 6 speed cassette (or freewheel?) and a suntour BL r. derailleur.
Any opinions?
Thanks!
07-27-03 | 07:15 AM
#2
SLJ 6/8/65-5/2/07
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 5,398
Likes: 20
From: SE Florida, USA aka the Treasure Coast
Motobecane used the name "Jubilee" alot thru the 70s and into the 80s. I bought a Moto in 78 as my first "real" bike. Couldn't afford the Jubilee but wanted one. That year they were a metallic gold with blue decals.
Yours sounds like an early 80s bike with the 6 speed. It should be a freewheel. The Vitus 888 was a tubing they used alot.
Definitely a keeper.
Yours sounds like an early 80s bike with the 6 speed. It should be a freewheel. The Vitus 888 was a tubing they used alot.
Definitely a keeper.
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“Life is not one damned thing after another. Life is one damned thing over and over.”
Edna St. Vincent Millay
“Life is not one damned thing after another. Life is one damned thing over and over.”
Edna St. Vincent Millay
07-28-03 | 11:57 AM
#4
SLJ 6/8/65-5/2/07
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 5,398
Likes: 20
From: SE Florida, USA aka the Treasure Coast
Does this look like your bike?
https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...&category=7298
Well I guess it's worth twice the other estimate.
I do have a higher opinion of the bike than the other poster but I wouldn't spend alot trying to modernize. Tune it up and enoy it. Vintage Motos are nice riding bikes.
https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...&category=7298
Well I guess it's worth twice the other estimate.
I do have a higher opinion of the bike than the other poster but I wouldn't spend alot trying to modernize. Tune it up and enoy it. Vintage Motos are nice riding bikes.
__________________
“Life is not one damned thing after another. Life is one damned thing over and over.”
Edna St. Vincent Millay
“Life is not one damned thing after another. Life is one damned thing over and over.”
Edna St. Vincent Millay
07-29-03 | 04:33 PM
#6
Vello Kombi, baby
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 5,188
Likes: 16
From: Je suis ici
Bikes: 1973 Eisentraut; 1970s Richard Sachs; 1978 Alfio Bonnano; 1967 Peugeot PX10
I wouldn't fire huge amounts into a new drivetrain; I've got one of those in the basement a guy gave me for fixing his girlfriend's bike (oddly, it was largely equiped with dura-ace parts, go figure. Talk about an upgrade.). It's a nice, capable bike; likely the rear hub spacing is at 126 (or narrower), so if you wanted to go with a newer rear hub, you'd probably have to cold set the rear dropout to 130, although sometimes you can just squeeze on the wider hub. You can still find older cassette hubs at 126mm (seven speed, no higher). Either that, or convert the bike to a fixie if you live in a flat area, that's what I'll likely do to mine.
A capable ride/beater if you're not out to conquer land speed records.
A capable ride/beater if you're not out to conquer land speed records.
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"It's always darkest right before it goes completely black"
Waste your money! Buy my comic book!
"It's always darkest right before it goes completely black"
Waste your money! Buy my comic book!
08-02-03 | 06:20 PM
#8
feros ferio
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 22,413
Likes: 1,878
From: www.ci.encinitas.ca.us
Bikes: 1959 Capo Modell Campagnolo; 1960 Capo Sieger (2); 1962 Carlton Franco Suisse; 1970 Peugeot UO-8; 1982 Bianchi Campione d'Italia; 1988 Schwinn Project KOM-10;
Unless you are racing, there is nothing wrong with a vintage road bike with vintage components. I generally keep the friction shifters, upgrade to a 7-speed freewheel, and replace the brake pads with KoolStops.
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
08-03-03 | 06:06 AM
#9
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 110
Likes: 0
From: Sweeeeeden
I bought a Gran Touring in '75 as my first "real bike". I rode the hell out of it untill '92. The only thing I ever replaced (besides tires, pads and bar wrap) was new rims after I took out a jaywalker. French bikes are cool but you may run into french threading in the BB or elsewhere which can hamper parts swapping.
